Belt buckle



Dec. 7, 1937. J. R VIGNE 2,101,585

BELT BUCKLE Filed April 9, 1936 34 INVENTOR JeromeRLaVigne \\Y BY 31 29 #19 ATToR Patented Dec. 7, 1937 *BELT BUCKLE Jerome B. La Vigne, .Waterbury, Conn., assignor to The Waterbury Buckle Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut 1 Application April 9,

1 Claim.

This invention relates to buckles, and more particularly to a separable two-part buckle adapted to connect the ends of a garment belt.

One object of this invention is to provide a belt buckle of the abovenature comprising two members which may be detachably clamped upon the opposite ends of a belt, and are adapted tohave sliding interlocking engagement with each other, and yet present the appearance of a unitary structure.

A further object is to provide a belt buckle of the above nature in which the two separable body members of the buckle are spaced apart a substantial distance, and are provided with longitudinal projecting portions which are adapted to have rigid interlocking engagement with each other, said body members'being capable of separation by first sliding one of them longitudinally and then longitudinally flexing it with respect to the other member.

A further object is to provide a belt buckle of the above nature which will be simple in construction,' inexpensive to manufacture, easy to assemble and manipulate, compact, ornamental in appearance, and very efficient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in View, there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawing,

one formin which the invention may be conveniently embodied in practice.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a front view of the assembled belt buckle as it appears when connected to the ends of a belt.

Fig, 2 is a similar view of the belt buckle as it appears when the body members are separated from each other in a longitudinal direction.

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the assembled buckle and belt, this view being the reverse of that shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the buckle taken along the center line thereof, and shown on an enlarged scale.

Fig; 5 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view of the forward end of the left-hand body member, the view being taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the buckle comprises two separable body members Ill and II, each of which is preferably stamped from sheet metal in the shape of the letter D. The body members l and H comprise relatively broad rectangular outer panel sections l2 and I3 and burrs; 45mm 1 ATENT OFFICE V 1936, Serial No. 73,401

relatively narrow transverse integral looped inner sections l4 and i5, respectively.

The opposed side edges of the panel sections l2 and iii are each formed with a pair of downwardly bent wings l6 and Il, respectively, which it are suitably apertured as at l8 and I9, (see Fig. 4)

so as to form journals for a pair of trunnion lugs 'and2l extending outwardly from the ends of a pair of pivoted clamping members 22 and 23, respectively. The clamping members 22 and 23 10 are of the usual construction in belt buckles, being preferably formed of sheet metal and having their transverse edges serrated as at 24 and 25 to provide teeth which are adapted to become imbedded in the ends of the belt 26 in a secure manner.

In order to detachably interlock the buckle members Ill and II together, the inner end of the D loop section Id of the buckle member I ll isprovided with a protruding open rectangular shaped frame 21, the opposite ends 28 and 29 of which are depressed to provide transverse seats for a longitudinal fiat protruding tongue 3|! integrally formed at the forward end of the D loop section lb of the other buckle member II.

The rectangular frame 27 comprises a pair of parallel longitudinal side bars 3| and 32 which are made somewhat shorter in length than the flat central tongue 36 in order to cause the ends of the tongue to protrude beyond said frame and to present a more attractive ornamental appearance (see Figs. 1 and 3). The longitudinal slot33 in the rectangular frame is slightly wider thanthe flat tongue of the buckle member II, and when assembled, said tongue 30 will preferably lie flush with said frame 21.

Operation In operation, to assemble the two buckle members l0 and l I, the tongue 3!! of the buckle member l I will first be inserted upwardly through the longitudinal slot 33 from the rear and slipped over the left-hand depressed cross-bar 28 a sufficient distance to allow the shorter inner righthand end of the tongue 30 to clear the right-hand depressed bar 29, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The buckle l I may be swung up into the same plane and flush with the buckle member lfl. .The buckle member II will then be slid to the right as far as it will go, causing the shorter end of the tongue 30 to seat upon the right-hand depressed bar 29, this movement being limited by the engagement of said cross-bar 29 with the cross-bar of the looped D-shaped section l5.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the inner edge of the right-hand depressed cross-bar 29 is inclined and curved in such a manner as to provide a rounding cam surface 34 on its upper face in order to facilitate the final sliding assembly movement of the right-hand short end of the tongue 30. The cam surface 34 is so spaced from the top of the rectangular frame 21 as to cause the tongue 30 to be detachably held frictionally in assembled position.

One advantage of the present invention is that the detachable sections of the buckle when assembled are laterally rigid in the plane of the buckle.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosure but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claim.

Having thus fully described the invention, What is claimed as new and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

In a belt buckle, a Dshaped open body member having a forward cross-bar, means on the rear of said member for attaching it to a belt, a raised rectangular frame connected between its ends to said cross-bar, said frame having a longitudinal aperture, one end of said frame beyond said aperture having an inclined cross-bar to facilitate the insertion of the interlocking tongue of a similar belt buckle body member and form a cam to frictionally engage said tongue.

JEROME R. LA VIGNE. 

